Measuring instrument



June 11, 1940.

H. BAER Er AL MEASURING INSTRUMENT Filed June 9, 1936 l 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 /00 ans.

1 34 INVENTORS. 33b Mae/'75 Jfihne an Howard er /oo GALS. 10o GALS.

June 11, 1940. H. BAER ET AL MEASURING INS TRUNENT Filed June 9, 1936 2 Sheets- Sheet 2 lm zwroks. Ma'rfm J finne Howard Ba Patented June 11, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MEASURING INSTRUMENT Application June 9, 1936, Serial No. 84,360

2 Claims.

This invention relates -to measuring instruments and particularly to instruments for measuring the liquid contents of a tank, whether buried underground, as in DeGiers Patent No.

I 1,875,803 of September 6, 1932, or carried by a dirigible, boat, aeroplane or other craft.

The general object of the invention is to im- 20 time avoiding any fire hazard, the latter being insured against by virtue of the means employed for rendering the commutator compartment immune from infiltration of combustible liquid.

Aiurther object relates to the indicated meth- Bl od and means for causing the contents of the tanks to be discharged to the point of consumption in a predetermined sequence, as above suggested.

These and other objects of the invention will 30 become apparent from inspection of the followingspecification when read with reference to theaccompanying drawings wherein is illustrated the preferred embodiment of the invention. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the 35 drawings are 'for the purpose of illustration only,

and are not designed as a definition the limits of the invention, reference being had to the appended claims for this purpose.

In the drawings:

2 40 Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of the electrical parts entering into one embodiment of the invention;

Fig 2 is a View of the indicating panel;

Fig. 3 shows a circuit actuating mechanism installed in and annexed to the tank whose contents are to be measured;

Fig. 4 is a view indicating the action of the float;

Fig. 5 is a view along the line 5- 5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 indicates how the invention may be ape plied to measure the contents of a series of tanks;

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view of the parts entering into a second embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of one of the three similarly constructed valves shown in Fig. 7.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to 5, reference character ll indicates a liquid receptacle having an outer wall apertured to receive a rockshaft I2, to 5 the inner end of which is attached an arm l3 carrying a float H, the outer end of the rockshalt being confined within a housing l6 secured to the tank II by suitable means I1, and divided into two chambers l8 and I9, the former being 10 a commutator receiving chamber and the latter serving to house the pinion 2| and sector 22 functioning to transmit motion of rockshaft [2 to the arcuate current conducting strip 23 which is movable with the pinion shaft 24 by reason of the intervening spokes 25 which carry said conducting strip 23, said spokes being disposed radially of a hub 25a keyed to shaft 24 to oscillate therewith. As indicated, spokes 25 and hub 25a are of insulating material, to prevent pasg0 sage of current from brush terminals 33 to pinion shaft 24.

Pinion shaft 24 has bearing upon the boss 26 of partition 21 dividing the gear housing l9 from the commutator housing l8. Detachably secured 25 to housing I8 is a cover plate 29 having an opening 3| to receive leads 32 connecting brush terminals 33 with the indicator terminals 34 on the rear of panel 35, the face of the panel having windows 36 illuminated by the light of the individ- 3o ual lamps when the respective circuits thereto are closed, and successively darkened as the downwardly moving float, responding to the lowering of the liquid level, causes commutator 23 to successively'open the said circuits.

In the systems of Figs. 6 and '7, involving the use of two or more tanks in series, the individual commutators 33a, 33b and 330 are all wired to a common panel having scale markings 40 covering the range from all tanks being full, to all tanks being empty; it being understood that the contents of the tanks will be utilized in a predetermined sequence. It is to be understood that thenumber of scale markings may be increased, and the number of indicating lamps and conductors correspondingly increased. Thus, for example, each terminal on commutators 33a, 33b and 330 may receive a conductor, and each of these conductors may receive a signal lamp, as in the case of conductors 32 in Fig. 1.

Figure 7 indicates one means for providing. automatically, for. such a predetermined sequence. As shown this means includes three discharge conduits 42, 43 having a junction fitting 44 with an outlet, conduit 45 leading to the point of consumption-an engine carburetor, for example-and a valve in each conduit corresponding to that shown in section in Fig. 8, and valves being operated in the sequence determined by the means for interconnecting the. windings 5!, 52, 53, so as to render any certain one of them energizable only when the commutator of the preceding tank, in the predetermined sequence,

has moved to a position corresponding to theevacuated condition of the associated tank. Thus, as shown, solenoid 52 can be energized only when commutator 33a has moved around to engage contact 6i, thereby completing a circuit from source 62 to the solenoid 52 by way of switch 64 (adapted to be closed manually to initiate operation) conductors i8, i5 and ii, and back to the source by way of conductors i1, 61, 33a, and ground 88.

Energization of solenoid 51, thus produced, attracts its magnetizable core 'H (Fig. 8) with its valve gate 12, thereby lifting the said gate to permit flow along pipe 42, through port 73, to the outlet 45. An emergency by-pass 14 permits flow in response to manual opening of valve 16, through turning of handle 11, such turning causing the valve sleeve 18 to thread itself back along screw 79, thereby connecting by-pass 14 with outlet 42. A spring 8! normally holds valve gate 12 closed, the pressure thereof being regulabie by operation of screw 82.

As illustrated in Fig, 3, to prevent seepage of the liquid into housing i8, I provide a drain aperture 20 in housing i8, at a point lower than the bearing 26 for pinion shaft 24. In this way the danger of ignition of the liquid (if combustible) by a spark or heat in the commutator chamber i8 is minimized.

In the appended claims the expression series of tanks is to be construed as covering separate tanks, or separate compartments in a single ta k.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a series of tanks, each having a float therein, a series of circuit controllers each movable with one of said floats, circuits connecting with each of said circuit controllers, an indicator having a series of indicating elements, one for each of said circuits, operable in sequence as said circuits are operated sequentially by said circuit controllers in response to descent, in sequence, of said floats, and means controlled by said circuit controllers for insuring the emptying in sequence of the tanks containing said floats, whereby said floats are caused to operate said circuit controllers in sequence and thereby produce operation of said indicating elements in corresponding sequence.

2. In combination with a series oi tanks adapted to contain a liquid, a series of circuit controllers, each movable in accordance'with the extent of variation in the level of the liquid in one of said tanks, circuits connecting with each of said circuit'controllers, an indicator having a series of indicating elements, one for each of said circuits, operable in sequence as the said circuits are operated sequentially by said circuit controllers in response to such liquid level variation in said tanks in sequence, and means controlled by said circuit controllers for insuring the emptying in sequence of said tanks, whereby said circuit controllers are operated in sequence to produce operation of said indicating elements in corresponding sequence.

HOWARD BAER. MARTIN J. FINNEGAN. 

